Work Besties Who Podcast
Building a bold community of work besties 💼👯♀️ to bond 🤝💞, banter 😂🎉, and bloom 🌸✨
🎙️ Listen to the Work Besties Who Podcast: where workplace friendships get real! From tea spills to relatable laughs, we’re unpacking everything about work life's ups, downs, and unforgettable moments.
✨ Join us for candid chats, relatable stories, and a sprinkle of chaos—because what’s work without a little drama and a lot of fun?
💼😄 Hit play, and let’s dive into the messy magic of workplace connections together!
Work Besties:-)
Work Besties Who Podcast
Broadway, Besties & Balance with Bret Shuford
From Broadway Lights to Family Nights: Bret Shuford's Journey of Dance, Sobriety, and Manifesting Dreams!
In this episode, we're diving into the inspiring and transformative journey of Bret Shuford, a Broadway star turned content creator, family man, and wellness advocate. Bret opens up about his incredible shift from Broadway’s spotlight to building a life centered around wellness, family, and dance. He shares how movement isn't just about shaking it off but about grounding, healing, and connecting with others on a deeper level.
We talk about the power of community in the arts, how dancing became Bret's way of coping, and the life-changing journey of sobriety. Bret’s honesty and vulnerability in content creation are a game-changer—he explains why collaboration trumps competition and how embracing your true self can create real connections.
Bret also spills the tea on manifesting your dreams with vision boards, how taking action (even when it’s imperfect) can lead to growth, and the magic of saying no to make space for something new! Plus, find out how he balances family life and passion while staying connected to his audience in a joy-filled way.
Takeaways you don’t want to miss:
- From Broadway to content creation, Bret proves you can pivot and manifest your dreams.
- Dance is more than art—it's wellness and connection.
- Curiosity and vulnerability are game-changers for personal growth and creative success.
- Vision boards work, but it’s taking action that makes the magic happen.
- Collaboration > Competition – let’s build communities together!
Tune in for a conversation filled with inspiration, laughter, and real talk about turning dreams into action—we promise it’ll leave you feeling motivated and ready to dance through life!
Follow Bret Shuford on IG, YT, website
As well as Broadway Husbands on IG, YT
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Work Besties! Theme Song Written by Ralph Lentini @therallyband
What if dancing through life's challenges could be your secret to staying grounded and connected? In today's episode, we're diving into the world of one of the Broadway husbands, Bret Shuford, who balances family, he balances a podcast, he has a new book, he's doing everything. He does it all while using movement and his vulnerability as his wellness hacks. So today, work Besties, get ready, because you're going to learn how to dance through the tough stuff with grace and support.
Claude:Hi. I'm Claude and I'm Jess. We are corporate employees by day, entrepreneurs by night and Work Besties for life.
Jess:Join us as we explore how Work Besties lift each other up, laugh through the chaos and thrive together in every industry. Work Besties Welcome Bret. We're so excited to have you.
Bret Shuford:I am so honored to be here, besties.
Jess:So we thought, Bret, if you wouldn't mind for our Work Bestie community. I'm sure many of you already follow Bret on one of his many cool social platforms, but if not, if you could just give a little bit of background on you, who you are.
Bret Shuford:Yeah, sure. So I'm originally from Southeast Texas and was called very early in my life to be a performer, and I followed that call all the way to new york city, uh, where I was in eight broadway shows and, while pursuing that dream, ended up meeting my husband now husband, steven hannah, who was at the time, a principal dancer with new york city ballet and then left, uh, the ballet to be on broadway as. So that's where we came up with our now Instagram account called Broadway Husbands, and we met in 2007. We got married in 2011. And then, in 2022, we had our son by a surrogacy, who's now going to be three in March. So we love to share on our Instagram a bit of our journey to as parents, as gay dads. We currently now live in Houston, texas, of all places, which is always bewildering to people, but I just want to remind everyone we had a pandemic, and then I don't know if you remember that I was going to say you answered, answered my very first question.
Jess:I was going to be like what inspired you to leave New York to go to Texas?
Bret Shuford:We can get into more details, but now you know, now we love to make content that brings joy. And we love to dance together. And we are also bringing our community together by launching a new podcast this spring called From Husbands to Dads, and we're going to share what it's like as parents navigating this journey and hopefully create a more inclusive space for all families.
Claude:That's beautiful, love it.
Bret Shuford:Thanks.
Claude:And I have to say I'm in awe also because I love, I mean, people. Performing for me is such a thrill, it's so cool, and from you being on Broadway and your husband being a principal in the Ballet of New York is like incredible, so it's really, really impressive. Thank you Do you miss actually being on Broadway.
Bret Shuford:There's things about it I miss. I think the thing I miss the most are the people, because it's just, it's a sort of I think anyone who's done theater, no matter what point in your life where you've maybe you performed, you have a built-in community when you do that right the drama club kids from high school. So we I do miss the artistic community. I do not miss the schedule right. The schedule is brutal. You're doing eight shows a week, working six days a week. You only get two weeks off, a year Plus understudy rehearsals.
Claude:Working on holidays, doing holidays, working on holidays and just balancing it all.
Bret Shuford:And it would be so much harder with a kid and there are lots of people who do it with kids but for me, especially at this stage in my life, I don't really miss that schedule and the repetition of it, that schedule and the repetition of it. But I've done some shows in the last few years, just locally. There's a great theater here in Houston that I've worked at a few times and it's been quite nice to get to do it and then also know that it's going to end after a couple of weeks and get to go put my son to bed More or less in your, you know the way you want.
Claude:It's like a happy medium. Yeah, the happy medium. You, yeah, the happy medium.
Jess:You get a little bit of the fun, the connection, camaraderie, but you don't have to do it for such an extensive time.
Bret Shuford:Yeah exactly.
Bret Shuford:That's amazing. So I'm kind of wondering. You made mention that you we actually never did a show together. He Valley World is so different and so separate from what I was doing on Broadway. And then when he booked his first Broadway show, which was Billy Elliot, his stage door was across the street from mine. I was doing the Little Mermaid. So we were sort of work besties in that we would take each other on the subway to Times Square, we would drop each other off at our stage doors, you know, and then, like between shows, we would go to Bryant Park and sit and have lunch, you know, and then go back and do our second show and that was sort of.
Jess:It was sort of like if you can have a Broadway work bestie, that's kind of a great way to do it yeah, I would feel like, because that's one of the many benefits of a work bestie is having that break in the day. So it sounds like you were able to leverage your connection, so we'll count it and something going to the work.
Claude:Bestie also, we actually last year we interviewed some actors, two actresses, and I loved it because when you said that you, you know you miss the community, you miss the people, us we thought that, being on the outside, we thought that it would be very cutthroat, you know, with all the audition and all that, and she actually told us that, no, there's a lot of support in this world also.
Bret Shuford:It's true.
Jess:She did. Yeah, I was going to say she did comment, though. So you're right, like once you're in, you're actually in a show. There is like a built-in community, as long as you get along with the people. Why not say we were Right? Yeah, for sure. But then she did comment about what's different, which we find fascinating as well, is your interview process. Right, you're in a very interesting situation where you usually walk into a room and you can see your competition before you are interviewing. Well, in our industries, or a lot of the people we talk to, you don't necessarily know who you're up against. Right, because you're. You're meeting either through a Zoom or you're one at a time.
Jess:So we thought that was kind of fascinating, and they made the comment that they actually started to enjoy the process more when they met each other, because then they would go together to a lot of the auditions and it made that moment where you're usually in that room and it was so tense with all the other people, but because they were there, it brought the brevity to it.
Jess:They felt like they actually performed and auditioned better when they were together, like not actually auditioning together but in the room together. So we found that fascinating too yeah, I would totally agree.
Bret Shuford:But it's also one of those things where when you do it long enough, you just start to know the people.
Bret Shuford:So that's kind of the community part of it it's like, especially when you're in what we do, you're such a specific type, right like, so you're gonna always see the same people at every audition because, like you all keep getting called for the same stuff, most of the time you all don't book it though. Right, so it's like one of us is gonna book it, but you get so used to seeing people that it could be oh hey, I was like how's your kid doing, or did you book that last thing? I saw you at so funny.
Jess:Yeah, that's like an interesting dynamic that you're like, well now, well, if I see you there, then maybe, maybe I don't have the great of a chance. Yeah it's true.
Bret Shuford:Yeah.
Jess:That's so cool. So, Bret, one of the things we think you bring to the table that our work besties can really value and kind of understand is two things. One, just watching some of your videos, I think will give them a little bit of a break in the day and make them a little happier. Happy, yeah. But two is the dancing. So I'm wondering, from your perspective, how do you feel dancing? Does it you feel like it fits into your wellness routine, or is it something that, for you, maybe helps you feel grounded?
Bret Shuford:Yeah, dancing for me, you know now, it used to be part of my work, right? So now it really does become a moment of joy and a moment of expression. Sometimes it just for us.
Bret Shuford:It's also a moment of connection where steven and I get to do it together sometimes we're so busy parenting and getting through the day that for us to just like, do a dance together just feels like being who we, who we were even before we met each other. You know, it's like it sort of brings us back to that. We love to dance for that reason, and what what's been really fun is we've started doing monthly online virtual dance classes for people who want to just like, and it's like for any level. It's so simple and easy. But we had a lot of people saying I want to, I want to come dance with you, and so we were like well, come dance with us. So so we're.
Bret Shuford:We've committed the last Saturday of every month for this year we're going to do a live virtual jazz class, we're going to do a warmup and we're going to teach a little dance combination, and it's just a fun way to bring people together. We do it on Zoom and this month, actually, every dollar that we raise from the class is going to go to the American Red Cross to help Los Angeles. Yeah, oh, that's fabulous, yeah, so I think it's a fun way to bring people together and I know it's intimidating for some people. They get very self-conscious and what's beautiful about doing it virtually is no one's gonna see you. Yeah, you know you can turn your camera off and we can listen to some fun music and you know, it can just be a great way to get together.
Claude:Yeah, it's just like to exercise, but also kind of belonging with a community and having all this stress coming out and exactly like no judgment, and that, I think, is beautiful.
Bret Shuford:That's what we need yes, I agree and I think that, honestly, the wellness part of that is is the coming together. Finding a common ground with people right now is hard to do, and so when you're together in a group and you're just listening to the same song and you're just grooving, it's easy to to find to come together and bring a smile which just I think that takes any of the stresses or yeah, it's not just physical, it's emotional, yeah as well, you know, and therapeutic for sure yeah, I'm excited to show you where these classes.
Claude:Please come, I'm sure you, we will see, you'll see us that's going to be something.
Claude:But yeah, let's do that.
Jess:I totally want to you would be really good at it. I used to be good at it. So, along the lines of um dance, would you um be able to share a story with us where dancing or movement maybe helped push you through a tough time? Because we're trying to help people realize how sometimes just taking your mind off something can help.
Bret Shuford:Sure, you know I mean yoga, of course, is a big part of my life too. I'm very much into yoga, which is also movement and very, very similar to dance. It's mind body connection, and I've always found myself in those moments. I'm ADHD, right, and something that I'm pretty open about Steve and I are both open about we've both been sober for a long time. I've been sober for about 20 years to talk about wellness, made that decision to stop drinking 20 years ago, and when I did that, it was a big challenge because I was discovering I was young. I was 25 at the time. I thought, oh my God, my life is over. It's like no one's going to want to hang out with me because I don't know.
Jess:Yeah, that's a really mature decision to make at that age. Very impressed. No, yeah, that's a really mature decision to make at that age.
Bret Shuford:Very impressed. What it did for me was I had been dance. For me, growing up as a little gay kid in the South, was an escape, because I didn't really fit in at school and I didn't fit in at home, and so I could go and I could look at myself in the mirror and like myself, and I could get lost in the movement and I could get lost in the movement and I could get lost in the music and I was good at it.
Bret Shuford:So I just found a way to connect to myself through that. But when it transitioned into me then needing to do it for work, I didn't know how to escape anymore through it. So then I started using substances to do that and so when I got sober I learned how to stop needing to escape myself at all and really starting to look at myself and own myself for who I was. And then movement and dance became this thing where I could connect more fully to myself, because as an ADHD person, I can get very much in my head and lose track of my body. Movement for me is about getting both of those things aligned in the present moment, where usually, when you get into the present moment, everything is, you know, there's no fear of the future and regret of the past, and you're. You're just in this present moment, and that's why I love it, that's why I love to. I love movement.
Jess:Yeah, I feel like. So I'm also ADHD and I think, um, what helps me is running in the morning and I think you're you're you kind of say it much more eloquently than I do, but it is when I'm running. The ability to kind of get out of that and just be one with your body and figure out it kind of helps ground you into the moment versus thinking about all the 20 other things that are going on.
Bret Shuford:Yeah, isn't that amazing yeah.
Jess:It's crazy how our mind and bodies can work like that together.
Claude:But I think that it's quite interesting that you know when you say that dancing used to be your escape and then it became your work, so you didn't have that escape anymore.
Bret Shuford:Yeah.
Claude:You know it's. I never thought of that, really, that you know you needed something else. So you've now found a new avenue.
Bret Shuford:Yeah, and what's challenging, I think, for a lot of people who end up pursuing I can speak for myself, but I think there are a lot of young people who pursue the arts or pursue theater as a profession, but they found it because they didn't fit in. They were sort of these misfits. Right then you think about those theater nerds and I. I think it's always a bit of an awakening when you enter the competition of the industry and the commercial part of it, how hard it is for people to really find themselves once it's no longer this escape. You know and that was why I became a coach, like that's. When I got certified as a coach was I was like I want to help those people really find their fulfillment so they're not looking for it outside of themselves, right?
Jess:watching some of your content is you have this great ability to center people and then think about bigger, broader opportunities at the same time. Would be willing to share with us your journey for that and kind of your kind of ethos of when you do coach people?
Bret Shuford:Yeah, thank you, it's really a thoughtful question.
Bret Shuford:I mean, I don't know, sometimes you're so close to something you just don't even see it Like.
Bret Shuford:I think that, for me, what I love about coaching and honestly it's the same thing I loved about performing it's like I, my goal and the reason like I love to do what I've done and it's the same transfers over to whatever it is I'm doing is I love to help people see the world and see themselves differently. Right, and I think it's so important that we be curious. I think there's so much magic and curiosity and so many of us like whenever someone loses that curiosity and they're just like no, this is how it is is when I'm like you are holding yourself back from so much. And so for me and I and I use so much of my own story to teach this because for me, I didn't book my first Broadway show until I made the decision to get sober- right, it was it wasn't until about three months into like getting one day at a time of just getting clean and taking care of myself and getting truthful and honest with myself.
Bret Shuford:And then, boom, I booked my first Broadway show. This thing I'd wanted for my whole life, you know, from when I was six, and it was this sign to me. It was like, okay, taking care of yourself and prioritizing honesty and authenticity and truthfulness actually leads you to down the path to what you truly want. And then I got that first Broadway show and was like, now what? Like I didn't, hadn't thought through the rest of my life, and so then I needed to start going okay, well, do I want to keep doing this? Do I want to do tv film, do I? And then I met Stephen and I was like, oh, do I want?
Bret Shuford:to get married or do I want to have a kid? So many options open up to you when you're curious and when you're honest and truthful.
Bret Shuford:And I want to help people stay curious. I want to help people let go of whatever things that feel so finite in their brains about who they are and what they're supposed to be doing and how they're supposed to do it, and get to that place where, like, what if it could be different? What if I could approach this in a different way? What if I could be vulnerable when I make this social media posts right or whatever it is? And so in my content, I love to inspire people to just show up even before you feel ready. Right.
Bret Shuford:That's the thing I think most people have always who've known me as long as I've been around. They always say you just show up, right. Even when you don't feel prepared, or even when it's messy, you still show up, which is so scary for some people who want to be perfect. They want that, to have that perfect image, and what I've learned over the years is when you just show up, you learn and you get better and you experience new things and you meet new people and then you get better and then um and so that, for me, is really what I think about when I'm coaching is unlocking people's curiosity and helping them have the courage to just show up, no matter what.
Claude:And how do you do that? Because, yes, when you have someone that have this need of perfection, you know, and, yes, they block themselves because it has to be perfect. How do you unlock? And also, like you say, it's through curiosity, but how do you do that?
Bret Shuford:Well, first off, I can't do it right. I'm not the expert. No, you have to do it Right. You have to want that. You have to want something different For some people, and it all depends on where that person is and what they really truly want, but for some people, it really is about getting clear.
Bret Shuford:Number one is, like clear what do I really want and what do I want my life to look like? Because the vision is what matters more, more than anything. You know for me, like I grew up, at six years old, I made this decision. I wanted to be a performer, I wanted to be on Broadway. I wanted to be on Broadway. I made that decision at six. I knew I wanted to do that.
Bret Shuford:I would have dreams in middle school and high school waking up, vivid dreams of being on Broadway and being on stage doing cats. I remember this very vivid dream of doing cats, dreams of meeting celebrities, and I would go to every show that I would go to, I would go to the stage door. That, to me, was me manifesting the vision of what I wanted. So if I didn't have that vision, it probably never would have happened. Right, and so, understanding that, like having a clear vision, clarity is the best. So then you know that every step is leading you towards that. And once you know that, what that vision is, and who you want to be and who you want to become, then you take action from that place not from the place you've been or the place you feel like you're supposed to be. But, like I always tell people, you want to take action from the person that you're becoming, not the person that you think you are it's true, but it's a different way of thinking.
Claude:Right, there's a lot of people is like even me, it's like who I am, but no who you want to be, and going um, and it makes me think, also simplistically, your vision board, in a way. Right, big fan of man, she's a big fan and I never did a vision.
Jess:You are on our vision board for this year. I don't know why. When you wrote to us, I was like, oh, it works it does work.
Bret Shuford:the problem so many of us hold with those things and this is perfectionism is that you make a vision and then you hold it to some sort of timeline. Right, and my favorite thing this kind of goes back to your, to your question, claude is my favorite thing to teach people is you're not taking action to get results. Like, the action that you're taking on a daily basis towards that vision is to create energy. Right, you're broadcasting to the universe every time you take action, saying this is what I want, and then the universe quantum physics, which is an actual you know law, tells us that what you put out, you get back. Now, it doesn't mean you're going to get it back when you want it the way you want it, but you're going to get that energy back in some way and in some return. You're never going to get that energy back if you don't put it out.
Claude:I think also, it's like not being stuck of what you want to get back. Maybe you're getting it back in a different way, but you're still getting this energy in a different way. Yeah, but you're still getting, like this energy and you know, in a different way I mean, for instance.
Bret Shuford:So you know, and I have to constantly look for proof of this right and this, which is why I think it's so important to notice every day the things that are, the abundance that is coming in, no matter how small, right, right and but, like I made a decision in a few months ago. I was, I got asked to go perform on a show and I said no. I was like the first time I was a little scared because I was like I know that that's a guaranteed income, right. The next week, out of the blue, because of our social media, I got offered a book deal from a publisher to write two children's picture books that are going to come out next year. Right, and a major publisher. This isn't like small dinky, like this is like penguin publishing, right. So, hey, and it it was. And I that was not something I mean visions of like writing a children's book, because that's all we read these days.
Jess:Yes, very much in the wheelhouse.
Bret Shuford:But I'd never said oh, I want to be a children's book author, Right. But I it was this moment of you made the right decision. By saying no, you created space for this, Like the curiosity was there, instead of saying to myself oh, I'm an actor, I'm supposed to do these things.
Bret Shuford:No this doesn't, I want to do some. I'm not sure what it is. I'm going to say no, and I created space for this new thing, and so I think it's really important to know like you are manifesting, even when you don't know what it is.
Claude:Something's going to come If you're creating space from the place you want to go To be scared of, like you said, of saying no because because you know it was an income or whatever and you had this intuition that you could say no right, or I think it's okay to be scared yeah, you're gonna be scared, I would be friend but it's holding your vision right like it's going back, you're taking but, you take action. Yeah, exactly. Yes, you're going to be scared, right, but, like you say, you're taking action.
Jess:Yeah. So, brad, exciting news about the books We'll be first in line. In addition to now being an author, you also are a content creator, so we wanted to chat with you a little bit, because I think that's actually in fairness. When I first became aware of you is I followed your podcast. That was about content creation, and one of the things that you talked about there was you're creating a vision and then sticking to it. Doing small things, commit to small things, one at a time.
Bret Shuford:So I listened, but we did that, we did that exactly yeah, and I learned so much from it.
Jess:So thank you. But I was wondering. So what got you to go from Broadway coaching and then to content creation?
Bret Shuford:That's a good question. I mean, I had always been creating content because I'd always been very curious about social media, but I would be a little bit envious of the people who were doing content creation as like for work. I would tell myself things like, oh, I'm not as creative as them, or what am I gonna? I have to figure out what I'm gonna do. And I finally uh, I guess it was in 2015 or 16 was in this musical on broadway called paramore. It was a Cirque du Soleil show and, uh, that's a whole nother podcast. I'm working for Cirque du Soleil, but I ended up when that show opened. It had been such a long five or six months of rehearsal that I decided I was going to commit to making a YouTube video every week for a year. So I did it. I actually accomplished that and was I learned so much.
Bret Shuford:And it was actually kind of through that that Broadway Husbands was born, because we would do a video series on my channel called Broadway Husbands where Steven and I would talk about something, um, talk about work, talk about whatever and that those always outperformed anything that I made when it was just me, and I was like I wonder if, like, I created a separate account for that and so I found no one had the handle on instagram and I created broadway husbands and we just started to explore and I started to kind of replicate I wouldn't say like copy but I would start to sort of mimic or test or try to do what other people who were already successful on these platforms were doing, um, and and test things out like are we, are we a couple account? So sometimes we'd post content. It was a little too thirsty and it'd be like no, that's not really our fit, you know, or we'd post you know, and this is really when Instagram wasn't a video platform. It was all images, um, and we promote the YouTube channel sometimes, but at some point we decided in 2018, we decided to start documenting our journey towards parenthood through surrogacy, and that really is when it started to blow up. People were very curious about that process and we were coming from this angle of two freelance artists who don't just have like a trust fund to pay for this, and we had to figure that out.
Bret Shuford:Yeah, and that was really when it started to grow. People were very curious about that, and so that, for me, was when I was like, huh, maybe this could be a full-time thing. And then, when the pandemic hit, what happened was all of the actors that I knew who did theater were out of work. So they were like how have you done this? They, people, were coming to me how did you grow this social media following? How have you made this content? And I started thinking that's what I should coach. I should start helping people do that, because people need this, like there's an income to be made here, there's a, there's a whole economy here, and so that's when I transitioned my coaching away from performing and really started leaning more into content creation and understanding that world a little bit more, and it's cool that you got to kind of combine your two passions.
Bret Shuford:Yeah.
Claude:And it's so funny how you say about Cirque du Soleil, because we have an episode where Jess actually asked what would you have liked to do in?
Jess:the past. What would be your dream job if you could do anything For me?
Claude:it was be a performer in Cirque du Soleil. I used to do rhythmic gymnastic and I did a performance with someone in Monaco, where I'm from, where someone was from Cirque du Soleil, and so it's so funny when you say that I'm like I see stars in my eyes, because I think for me, cirque du Soleil is the ultimate show, right.
Bret Shuford:They do. I mean, it's interesting because they are sort of a corporation now, so they just have so much money and they throw so much money into their shows and they take care of their artists in a wonderful way. You know, I think they really do take care of their, especially their circus artists, but Broadway is not built for what Cirque du Soleil does. So Broadway is a very different world in that it's unions, it's New York, it's you know, and they're non-union, they're street artists, they're acrobats, you know.
Jess:So it was a very confusing experience for them and for us I think that's like the nicest way to probably say yeah, no one knew how to how to handle each other, and then you had the french barrier.
Claude:I realize that, and deal with that every day.
Jess:You're lucky she hasn't clothes plain yet, because usually that's what happens I say something people don't understand and she's going to repeat yeah, like I guess we'll get like a really funny look on their face and I'll be like, okay, so here's what she was trying to ask, but you get it after having to do that, yeah it was a cool experience in that there were my gosh, there were so many acrobats, there was something like 80 different like um nations being represented in that one show.
Bret Shuford:Oh, it was so cool, you know, from argentina to ukraine, to poland, to I mean, there was just so many different and where else? I would never have gotten that experience anywhere else if it hadn't been for Cirque du Soleil.
Jess:No wonder why you always say that, Because I feel like whenever you bring up that show, you're like that could be a whole podcast. And now I get why.
Bret Shuford:There's so many experiences from that, yeah.
Jess:Wow, it's like you lived a life just with that experience.
Bret Shuford:No, it's true. I mean, I actually would love to write a book about that whole experience, but I don't know if Cirque might come after me. I don't know they might sue me that wouldn't be a kid's book.
Jess:So, Bret, speaking of that, I feel like you do a great job of balancing, providing vulnerable topics as well as bringing lightness to things, and you bring a really cool, unique niche to your content creation, but you make it still feel welcoming for everybody. Is that by design, or do you have kind of a focus or perspective, or are you kind of ebbing and flowing with that?
Bret Shuford:It's all an ebb and flow, you know. I think there's days where I'm like I'm so confused like what am I making? And there's, I mean, I think there's days where I'm like.
Bret Shuford:I'm so confused Like what am I making? And there's I mean it's much easier with Broadway Husbands because it's very specific For us. The gauge there is before we click post. We always ask ourself does this create joy? That's our only gauge. We want this to be a joyful account. It's joyful for our audience. I mean it's not going to be joyful for everybody. We might push some people's buttons, but those aren't our people.
Bret Shuford:Right, right, exactly, no-transcript feel really good because my, my real mission, you know, on my personal account, is to inspire people and help people live their life better and see themselves as, see the curiosity and unlock that for them. And so that really is really all I try to do on my personal account, but it's through the lens of connection. You know, what I teach people when I'm teaching them about social media and building their own brand, is that you want to connect to one person. And so for me, I think of my aversion of myself, you know, five, 10 years ago. What would he have needed today to feel seen? And the fact that that even resonates with you, jess, just makes me feel so good too.
Jess:I think that's I mean we're trying to do something similar right with us. We're trying to create that connection as well and create that community where, when people come to us, it is that your five-minute break of fun and pause and just reminding yourself of the importance of your work best and I think what I get from your insights, or from your sites too is it is that it is connection, but it does still make you pause and think right, because I think there's a lot of times that you challenge a question or you bring up to the fact of like, don't be the one thing for everybody, be the one thing for that group of people. So it's okay to have a niche audience and you should, which I really value.
Bret Shuford:Yeah, yeah. It's easier to show up for when you do that, when you do that.
Claude:And the audience is also being authentic because, at the end of the day, you're authentic, you're, you're yourself, right and yeah, and people react to that they do.
Jess:Yes, yeah, I'm like always forwarding it to cloud, did you see this one?
Bret Shuford:and and yeah, I think it's understandable you know, some people, what's authentic to you is not going to be authentic to somebody else, right and so for. So for me, to me, authenticity comes back to what we talked about earlier, which is like about that honesty and about being honest that could help someone else, because that can really. That's where the vulnerability part is, and that's true authenticity it's being vulnerable you had commented about this how sometimes we struggle right.
Jess:So if we are content creators and we start in the game, we get like a big pop, maybe in the beginning and you start to grow your niche and your network, but then maybe it plateaus. What would be your coaching and recommendation to content creators when that does happen?
Bret Shuford:The first thing I would say is put collaboration over competition. So what I mean by that is you know, it's easy we were just having this conversation when you go to an audition, let's say, or an interview, one person's going to get that job. But in social media and content creation there's so much abundance, there's so much availability to everyone and it's easy to apply those real world limitations on social media, but they don't actually apply. So when you see every person who creates content for a similar audience, when you start to see them as potential collaborators and not competition, you can unlock so much more potential for your growth, and so the next level to me is always to when you plateau who doesn't know me.
Bret Shuford:Who do I need to pitch to? Who do I need to reach out to? Who could I invite to go live with me or create a piece of content with me as a collaborator? Who could like be on my podcast that serves a similar audience? Because that is how you expand your network and get in front of new people.
Bret Shuford:And sometimes, as content creators, it's kind of fun just to be isolated and like make stuff and then be disappointed that it didn't hit, but like there's that extra step of oh, I need to actually put it out there and I need to push myself out of my comfort zone a little bit and reach out to big. I'm doing this right now. My big challenge this first quarter of the year is to grow my email list. So I'm pitching to huge podcasts right now. Who would probably either not respond or say no, but huge pockets, like I sent to Amy Porterfield today and I'm Jenna Kutcher, like I'm like these big lifestyle, influencer, thought leader kind of platforms, because that's again the vision I have for myself moving forward. I'm just going to act as if and see what happens.
Bret Shuford:You know, and I think that's really essential is like taking action from where you're going means these people are my collaborators. We're all going to know each other. We're all going to be at a keynote presentation together in this holding room before we go out, Right? It's like that's how you have to think we want to get together now.
Jess:Yeah, you know, I find it so fascinating and amazing that this content creation world is so inviting. We did, we've done, the same thing. I mean, you're an example of it. You reach out and you'd be surprised how many people say yes, or maybe not now, but let's keep talking and it's and even giving us so amazing it's.
Claude:It just feels like a warm community in that regards and giving us tips also because we were new and helping us to go to the next level and then the next, and that was something that again there wasn. I mean, we haven't felt a competition, but more like embrace. You know, the embraces.
Bret Shuford:Good.
Claude:Yeah, that's good.
Bret Shuford:You know it's interesting because I've learned in the content creation that we do with Broadway Husbands. There are some people I reach out to. They just don't respond and you're like it's hard not to take it personally, but it's so important to remember that not everyone is doing this for the same reasons. Reasons right, yeah, right.
Jess:Yeah, and if they don't respond, sometimes you just write again.
Bret Shuford:That's the third one, that's it.
Claude:That's right, so we'll only give them three times.
Bret Shuford:Three times, and then we'll leave you alone.
Jess:Oh, this has been amazing. So what's going on for you on the horizon? You've mentioned about your book and you've got a podcast. Anything else you want to share with our Work Bestie community.
Bret Shuford:I mean those are the big, big, exciting things. I mean I feel the book thing is like huge. I just happened to get a literary agent because of it and now I'm writing two other books that she's going to help with proposals to help me get those done. One's a personal development book, um okay, so not just kids books. You're doing I'm going to try and we're going to try to get this like use this as a way to sort of get my coaching out there in a different, in a different way.
Jess:Right, when you go in, you go all in. Why?
Bret Shuford:not. Yes, I love it. I was like, well, I got an agent, now why not go for it? And so we're going to launch the podcast in April from Husbands to Dads and along with that we're going to build, or building out, a community for that group so, like all of our jazz classes will be a part of that community we're just. Our hope is to really build something where all parents you know, as a two dad family, we learned very early on living in the suburbs. It's pretty isolating and sometimes we feel like the only two dad family that lives here for miles. So we want to try to bring not just two dad families together, but allies and people who really want to move away from like that heteronormative, like world that has been traditionally what people see families as and really embrace what families truly are.
Jess:That's so amazing and impressive. I feel like there are definitely pockets of that, but you're giving it a bigger, broader platform, which is amazing. It's of acceptance, you know, and love. Any parting words to our work. Besties out there.
Bret Shuford:I just think it's so beautiful to see that you found your person and you are creating with them, and I think that's so important for people. That's what I feel like with Steven is like we get to create together, and when you make something out of nothing and you get to share that with somebody and then you get to see that it actually resonates with others, there's nothing bigger than that reward you know?
Jess:Yeah, I agree, we definitely agree. Yes, thank you so much, Bret. This is um. As I said, it was on our vision board, so you've made my year already why can't we just share this?
Bret Shuford:this is so exciting.
Jess:Thank you thank you so much for sharing your your journey, for talking about your wellness, for for just being on our podcast, like we are so honored and um thank the world of you and the words of wisdom that I know that our community totally can learn from, so so well about being yourself and looking at the vision I love and be curious yeah, just love it. It's a lot of call to attention to our work besties out there. Thank you, Fred. Thank you so much. We appreciate you.
Jess:And we look forward to dancing with you soon. Remember whether you're swapping snacks in the break room, rescuing each other from endless meetings, or just sending that perfectly timed meme. Having a work bestie is like having your own personal hype squad.
Claude:So keep lifting each other, laughing through the chaos and, of course, thriving. Until next time, stay positive, stay productive and don't forget to keep supporting each other. Work besties.
